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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29526981">the promise of the light</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/thespareoom/pseuds/thespareoom'>thespareoom</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dead Sheev Palpatine, Eventual Happy Ending, Everybody Gets a Hug, Family Feels, Family Shenanigans, Fix-It, Friendship, Gen, Healing, Jedi Maul (Star Wars), Obi-Wan Trains Ahosoka, Post-Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon Jinn Lives, Qui-Gon Trains Anakin, Redemption, canon means nothing to me, its what he deserves</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 17:35:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,847</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29526981</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/thespareoom/pseuds/thespareoom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>For as long as he can remember, Maul has been manipulated into a weapon for other people. He could escape, but without his anger, who is he really? It's fear more than anything else that keeps him locked into a cycle of evil. A tense encounter with the Jedi he's been trained to hate gives him the opportunity to take a different path.</p><p>[or: Maul gets the happiness he deserves, escapes his trauma, learns to love, and becomes a Jedi]</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Darth Maul &amp; Ahsoka Tano, Darth Maul &amp; Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Darth Maul, Qui-Gon Jinn &amp; Anakin Skywalker, Qui-Gon Jinn &amp; Darth Maul, Qui-Gon Jinn &amp; Obi-Wan Kenobi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>51</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the promise of the light</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I am truly tossing everything from the prequels straight out the window in an effort to give Maul a bit of happiness. I hope you'll join me for the ride!</p><p>to be updated every other Sunday</p>
    </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this first chapter serves primarily as a short prologue, set just before The Phantom Menace begins. The two timelines are not *precisely* aligned but exist within the same time frame!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div>
  <p>     Sharp metallic coldness greeted Maul as he startled awake once more. Only this time it wasn't the visions in his head that awoke him but the pounding on the door. Slowly, he struggled to his feet, reaching out in the darkness for the lamp that cast the small room in harsh bright light. Twenty years he'd lived like this, crammed into a metal hole far beneath this building stars know where. Daytime, nighttime, he could never be sure. The room contained no windows, only a door, the bed he slept in, and a small table with the lamp. Bolted into the wall directly across from him hung a bar, a simple rack on which he hung his few clothes.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     The dream he was thrust out of was a recurring feature, one of the few that didn't cause him to bolt up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. He tried in vain once again to grasp anything concrete from his memory, but the effort once again came up short. The dream never left him with any faces or specific events, only a feeling. A feeling of warmth and hope. A reminder that somewhere, once upon a time, he was once loved.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     Maul sighed heavily and stretched his arms out above his head, leaning to one side, then the other. It did little good to dwell on such fleeting memories now, if they could even be called that. Whatever the dream contained, it was long gone from his life. His feet hit the cold floor, solid and unyielding, and led him across the room to get dressed. He'd performed this ritual so many times, he hardly had to think through what would come next. The meeting with his Master, his inevitable long speech, all ending with Maul being sent off somewhere to do his dirty work. Another day of terrorizing people into submission. Just as he pulled on his cloak, one of many faded black with holes in the sleeves, the pounding came once again.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     "Hey!" the voice yelled. "We haven't got all day out here! Hurry it up!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     Maul growled quietly under his breath before throwing open the door. In the doorway, like every day before, stood the gaoler. A small man whose name Maul never bothered to learn, this cruel servant had very little in his life. As one of many who worked down in the dungeons, one of the lowest positions in his master's service, this man had control and power over very little. But one thing he did have was this tiny amount of power over Maul. Every day, he told him when to wake and where to go, and every night, he locked the door behind him. Maul had often overheard the man talking about him, how his Master's supposed apprentice really held no power or strength at all. He was no different than all of them - a servant who did as he was told.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     "Took you long enough," the gaoler grumbled at Maul as he stepped through the threshold. "You of all people should know better than to be late on today, of all days. Move!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     As if this man knew anything of what was happening today. For all his attempts to make himself feel bigger than Maul, he was still a lowly servant, and he would never escape this fortress. Maul left, carrying out the business of his Master all the time. He knew what today was about. The beginning of it all, the master plan. And he was central to it all. Even if he still remained fuzzy on what exactly the plan was.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     The upstairs rooms contained far more light and warmth than ever reached Maul's quarters several stories down. He entered the central hall alone, approaching the hooded figure cast in blue on the far side on the room.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     Darth Sidious. His master for nearly twenty years. The figure turned to face him, a lip curling up underneath its massive hood.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     "My humble apprentice," Sidious began, voice rasping around each word. "Today, we begin anew."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     The speech came readily, one Maul had heard many times through the years, growing in frequency within the last several months. His plan, the one he hatched long ago with his own Master, finally was ready to commence. Once completed, the galaxy would be under new order, safety, and protection that so many systems lacked now. And the Jedi, the supposed protectors of the peace, would be no more.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     Sidious continued on and on, pleased with the sound of his own voice, but Maul no longer listened. These pontifications once held him rapt, but he stopped paying his Master's words much attention when he realized he never actually said much. For all the times Maul had heard him go on about this grand plan, Sidious had never given any details on what the plan entailed. He played his part well, that much his Master had always said. The rest of it would come when it did; it was none of Maul's concern. For now.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     "And today!" Sidious boomed on. "You, my apprentice, will set this all into motion, as only you can. Go! Off to Naboo to meet these Jedi. They may have wrecked my negotiations, but they will not put a stop to me."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     Maul nodded at the holo, but Sidious was already faded from sight. Turning on his heel, Maul stalked out of the room, off to the landing pad to ready his ship. His saber would await him there, readying him for his truest purpose - destruction.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>     The weather was perfect for flying today. That much was immediately clear to Obi-Wan from the second he awoke, sun shining through the upper windows, bathing him in warm light. So many days before began just like this for the Padawan, waking up to streaks of sunlight on his face, but today immediately felt different. No amount of light could clear the clouds swirling inside his mind. It started as a quiet whisper, just as soon as he gained consciousness. <em>Something's going to happen today</em>, it whispered into his brain, sneaking in as he began to wake up. Obi-Wan was nothing if not a man of reason. He and Qui Gon were scheduled for nothing more than a routine diplomatic mission, nothing he hadn't attended to many times before. But the feeling wouldn't leave him. He went through his usual morning rituals, arranging the blankets on his bed, donning his usual cloak, having a warm cup of tea. And yet still, the dread only grew. <em>Danger lies ahead</em>, the feeling insisted. <em>Qui Gon</em>. The thought made no sense to him, yet still, it persisted, unrelentlessly nagging him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     Morning meditation usually cleared Obi-Wan's mind, but today the only thing he left with was the need to discuss this with his Master. Noting the time, he quickly grabbed his outer cloak and lightsaber. As he walked out the door, the young man paused for a moment, taking a quick look around his quarters. He didn't know why or how, but he knew with certainty, he could not be the same person when he returned to this room again.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>     The air around the landing pad was quiet, still, as it often was at this time of morning. Only a soft whistle of wind broke the complete silence. Qui Gon relished these moments, rare though they were these days, when the galaxy didn't seem to be spinning faster than he could keep up with. He closed his eyes and breathed in the crisp predawn air. Ever since he was a boy, his favorite time had always been the moments before the sun peeked into the sky. Nothing but promise and possibility lies on the horizon.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     Soft footsteps broke into the silence of the morning as another approached the landing pad from off in the distance. The steps approached Qui Gon from behind, stopping just behind his right shoulder. The young man was troubled, of that much Qui Gon felt certain. Over the years, he had come to expect his Padawan's steady sureness. The fact that he seemed so off balance on such a routine day threw the older Jedi off balance. He waited for a moment, giving Obi-Wan space to admit what troubles he was holding onto. Unlikely that would be without prompting. For as many times as they’d had the discussion, Qui Gon struggled to convey the importance of listening to and trusting your feelings. The Living Force worked through emotions in especially powerful ways. Obi-Wan’s tendency to bottle his thoughts away in a vain attempt at hiding them or ignoring them proved true once again today. The Padawan seemed far more intent on counting the tiles on the ground than engaging with his Master. Sometimes his reservedness served him fine, but today his anxieties seemed greater than just an average day.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     "Why don't you tell me what's bothering you," Qui Gon prompted gently after several moments of silence passed between the two.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     More silence. Obi-Wan began tracing circles with his toe, weighing his response. Qui Gon let him be, watching the sun rise in the distance while his Padawan considered his answer. He would respond whenever he became ready.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     "It’s this mission." Obi-Wan began pacing slowly, taking careful steps towards the ship and retreating again. His words came slowly, each one carefully chosen. A fear spoken allowed became a much more real one than one held close to the heart. "Something's off about it. I sense danger in our path. To you, specifically, Master."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Qui Gon worked hard to retain control over his face. He struggled to remember the last time Obi-Wan placed such trust or concern on a premonitory feeling and came up empty. The Living Force was a realm Qui Gon tended to live in and one he struggled to share with his Padawan. Typically, he was quick to dismiss his Master’s visions and inklings of the future. Yet here he stood today, clearly troubled by whatever the Force had shared with him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     Qui Gon reached out and placed a reassuring hand firmly on the younger man’s shoulder. <em>Almost as tall as I am, now</em>, he couldn’t help but reflect. He once towered over his student, but here he stood now, a man grown. Where had the time gone?</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     “You are wise to hold these concerns,” Qui Gon began. A balance must be struck between reassurance and encouragement in his training with the Force. “Much remains unclear about the future. I sense it as well, something monumental coming. But we musn’t worry. This mission will surely not be our last.”</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     Obi-Wan looked at his Master at long last, his face tense and unreadable. After a moment, a bit of tension eased out of his shoulders, but Qui Gon could sense his unease still. Whatever bothered him had not left him totally. Yet, his usual determination had returned to him. With a quick squeeze, Qui Gon let his hand fall from Obi-Wan’s shoulder.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>     “Off we go,” he said, staring off at their ship in the distance. “Wherever the Force may take us.”</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>if you follow me on tumblr, you know this has been a long time in the making. hopefully it lives up to my own expectations and reaches an audience somewhere out there<br/>as always, feedback/comments/kudos are all greatly appreciated!<br/>come talk to me on <a href="http://www.thespareoom.tumblr.com">tumblr</a> if you'd like!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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